Summary
The 1976 United States Senate election in Wyoming took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic Senator Gale W. McGee ran for re-election to his fourth term. Following a close win in his first race in 1958, McGee won wider victories in 1964 and 1970, even as the state's electorate grew more conservative. In 1976, McGee faced a strong challenge from State Senator Malcolm Wallop, the Republican nominee. Despite McGee's past victories in the state, he faced considerable headwinds as President Gerald Ford won the state over Jimmy Carter convincingly, even as Ford was losing nationwide. In the end, despite McGee's ability to significantly outperform other Democratic candidates, he was unable to defeat Wallop, and lost re-election by a fairly wide margin, winning just 45% of the vote to Wallop's 55%. Malcolm Wallop's swearing-in or inauguration marked the first time since 1954 that Republicans held both United States Senate seats from Wyoming.
 | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Wallop: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% McGee: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Democratic primary edit
Candidates edit
- Gale W. McGee, incumbent U.S. Senator
Results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gale McGee (inc.) | 44,437 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 44,437 | 100.00% | ||
Republican primary edit
Candidates edit
- Malcolm Wallop, State Senator, 1974 Republican candidate for Governor
- Nels T. Larson[2]
- Doyle Henry, perennial candidate[3]
Results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Malcolm Wallop | 41,445 | 76.56% | |
| Republican | Nels T. Larson | 6,965 | 12.87% | |
| Republican | Doyle Henry | 5,727 | 10.58% | |
| Total votes | 54,137 | 100.00% | ||
General election edit
Results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Malcolm Wallop | 84,810 | 54.59% | +10.37% | |
| Democratic | Gale W. McGee (inc.) | 70,558 | 45.41% | -10.37% | |
| Majority | 14,252 | 9.17% | -2.39% | ||
| Turnout | 155,368 | ||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | |||||
References edit
- ^ a b c Thomson, Thyra (1977). 1977 Wyoming Official Directory and 1971 Election Returns. pp. 123–24.
- ^ "Who is Nels Larson?". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. August 5, 1976. p. 29.
- ^ "Candidate to run". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. February 1, 1976. p. 5.